Plot

The Racket, written to mark the centenary of the First World War, exposes the immense profits made during a war that claimed 20 million lives yet created 21,000 new millionaires and billionaires, in America alone. Adapted from the speeches and writings of Major General Smedley Butler, the most decorated soldier in US history, The Racket combines Butler's intense respect for the ordinary soldier with critical dissent against the growing corporatism he believed to be corrupting the ideals he'd willingly die to protect.—Nick Thomson

The First World War has left its imprint on the popular imagination to an extent almost unparalleled in modern history. Its legacy of mass death, mechanized slaughter and propaganda, swept away long-standing romanticized images of warfare, and continues to haunt public consciousness today. However what is little known is that during the war 21,000 new millionaires and billionaires appeared in America alone, to say nothing of the hidden profits made by their European counterparts. This is just one fact exposed by someone who was 'in the know': Major General Smedley Butler who spent 33 years in the military and became the most decorated soldier in US history. Combining intense respect for the soldier, with critical dissent against the growing corporatism he believed to be corrupting the ideals he'd willingly die to protect, Butler exposes the ulterior motives behind the First World War. Pulling no punches he mounts a scathing attack on those who desire war and asks how many war profiteers ever dug a trench, parried the bayonet thrust of an enemy, or watched their comrades die. According to Butler, war is a racket, possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, and surely the most vicious racket of all, and, the only way to smash the racket is to take the profit out of war a message that resonates more than ever today as military expenditure hits new heights and corporate profits soar.